"Young master?" A feminine voice came from outside the door.
I didn't reply but just stared blankly at the door.
What am I supposed to do now?
Should I act like Azariah and go with the flow for now?
Or should I behave like I usually do?
But if that woman even gets a hint that I am not her son, she is going to kill me.
"Argh..what should I do?"
Biting my lower lip, I mumbled as I tried to rack my brain.
If I see that woman now, I don't know if I can react properly.
"Young master?" Again the voice resonated, bringing me back to reality.
"Come in."
Taking a deep breath, I said in a commanding voice like I should.
Click.
With a click, the door opened up as a woman in her early twenties walked in.
From her black and white dress mix, she looked like a maid from a big household.
As her eyes fell on the room, she stood there frozen, unable to react.
I looked at the room as well.
Broken chair.
Messed-up bed.
Floor filled with dried-up blood marks.
The whole room looked like an intense battle happened here.
"Y-young m-master." With a trembling voice, she quickly walked towards me.
"Urgh...."
Groaning in pain because of my fractured ribs, I stood up with the help of the table.
"A-are y-you alright, young master?" The maid quickly tried to help me, but I stopped her by blocking her.
She looked even more horrified as she noticed my swollen hands and damaged knuckles.
"Fill the bathtub and bring me a new set of clothes." I ordered her in a cold voice as the maid trembled in fear.
"Y-yes." With a deep bow, the maid quickly made her way towards the bathroom.
I silently moved towards the bed as I lay down on it, the sound of the bathtub filling echoed in the room.
In the silence, I thought about a lot of things that I needed to do.
First of all, I needed to be careful around that woman.
She is the biggest problem for me right now.
If she ever knew I took over her son's body.....
I will die without a doubt.
There is no chance of me living then.
'Wait, why do I even want to live now.'
The thought ran in my mind as I looked blankly at the ceiling, finding it hard to understand.
What's there left for me to even live?
I have lost everything anyway. What's the point in going on now?
"Even if your body changes, even if your personality changes, I will still love you."
As I thought of ending all this, a voice resonated in my mind.
"....."
I didn't recognize the voice at first, but thinking about it, I immediately thought of someone.
The girl I love...
She said this before she pushed me off the building...
What does that even mean?
"Young master?" As I lay there, the voice of the maid made me look at her.
"The bath is ready." She said, not making eye contact, but I nodded my head nonetheless as I stood up from the bed, wincing in pain.
"What are you doing?" I asked as I tried to open the buttons of my shirt, but the maid quickly arrived and opened it for me.
"Helping you," she replied as she continued to tremble.
How much did she fear me?
As she helped me take my clothes off, I quickly noticed the clothes that I was wearing were expensive ones.
'Yeah, right. I made a mess last night.'
As I remembered the events of last night, I immediately felt frustrated about what Azariah did.
'And now I will have to face all the aftermath.'
Again, I understood how fucked up I am right now, trapped in his body.
"I can do it, so stop," I said to the maid as she tried to take my pants off.
"Yes," she bowed as she moved towards the side of the room.
Walking slowly, I made my way towards the bathroom.
Again, I ignored all the pain that my body was suffering from as I submerged myself into the bathtub.
"..."
I looked at my body in silence.
My skin touched my bones as I didn't have any muscle on my body.
On every side of my body, the marks of torture that I have gone through were still etched on my body, even though years have passed.
And my left hand....
It had a nasty mark on it as if someone had chopped it off and then reattached it.
"At least it's working," I mumbled as I clenched and unclenched my fist.
Having cleaned myself properly, I moved out of the bathtub wearing a bathrobe as I moved towards the bed where my clothes were placed.
"Stand there. I don't need your help."
As I started to wear them, the maid tried to move to help me, but I quickly stopped her.
I sat down on the bed after wearing my pants as I started to wear my shirt.
"Hm?"
But just as I was about to wear my shirt, the maid moved and stood in front of me.
"....."
I stared blankly at her as she, with a deep breath, gracefully sank to her knees before me, the fabric of her maid attire pooling around her.
She then bowed her head low, her forehead touching the ground.
".....what are you doing?" I asked as I came out of my daze.
"Please let me live for.....one more day, young master." Still bowing, the maid replied, her voice filled with shame and fear.
.....yeah, right.
"How many days has it been since you were assigned to me?" I asked, looking at her.
"It's b-been thirty days, y-young master," she replied, her voice trembling.
Ahhh, no wonder she was so fearful of me, I have her life in my hand don't I?
The thing is that everytime Azariah drinks the maid assigned to him for his daily needs is executed by his mother.
.....and Azariah drinks atleast once in a month.
That means if I drink today she will we executed tomorrow.
Azariah's mother does it so Azariah can understand the value of life but it only made him a monster who doesn't value life at all.
"Get up." I said in a cold voice ignoring her trembling.
"B-but y-you haven't stepped on me yet y-young m-master." She replied, her head still touching the ground.
"I don't have time for all this, get up." I said coldly as wore my shirt in hurry.
The maid slowly got up from her place as she looked at me fearfully.
"Take me to the hall I need to have lunch." I said to her as I opened the door.
Though confused about why I am asking her to take to the hall she nodded and lead the way nonetheless.
My mind is a mess right now; I don't even remember my own house properly.
We both moved through the hallway of a castle-like building, but I wasn't in the mood to admire all of this.
All that was in my mind was how can I avoid that woman without being too obvious.
Click.
Before I knew it, we arrived in front of a hall as the maid opened the door for me.
Sigh..
I first looked around and then sighed in relief as I didn't find that woman in this place.
I entered the room, and the food was already placed on the table with a few maids ready to serve.
I sat down on the chair, and the maid started to serve me the food without saying anything.
Without me even lifting a finger, the food was already served to me.
It was an odd feeling having everything done for you.
But I wasn't in the mood for that as I picked up the spoon and took a bite.
"Hmm?"
I took another bite, as I didn't feel any taste on the first one.
My chewing slowly stopped as I didn't feel any taste in the food.
Slowly, I placed the spoon back on the table as I remembered something.
That Azariah had 'Ageusia.'
That means he couldn't feel any taste no matter how delicious the food is....
And that means I can't feel any taste as well....
Click.
Even before I could cope up with the shock of losing one of my senses, the door of the hall clicked open as my worst fear became true.
Azariah's mother entered the hall.